Tag Archives: Gary Phillips

Murder and Mayhem in Muskego edited by Jon & Ruth Jordan

Overview
Murder and Mayhem in Muskego: Jordan, Jon & Ruth, Phillips, Gary,  Richardson, Kat: Amazon.com.au: Books

Title: Murder and Mayhem in Muskego
Author: Jon Jordan, Ruth Jordan, Megan Abbott, Dana Cameron, Reed Farrel Coleman, Hilary Davidson, Sean Doolittle, J.M. Edwards, Andrew Grant, Ted Hertel, Jr., Chris F. Holm, Brad Parks, Gary Phillips, Kat Richardson, Greg Rucka, Marcus Sakey, Tom Schreck, Nathan Banks, Zoe Sharp, Bryan VanMeter & Jeri Westerson
In: Murder and Mayhem in Muskego (Jon & Ruth Jordan)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Crime, MysteryShort story collections
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Down and Out Books
Year: 2012

Thoughts

I loved this collection, it is very aptly named – truly a collection of murder and mayhem. Hilariously so if I’m being honest. Alright, some of the stories aren’t all that hilarious – because they are somewhat disturbed. But, still, this was a fantastic collection. One that I thoroughly enjoyed and look forward to reading again in the future.

Although there were a few mystical stories in this collection, the majority were contemporary tales. That definitely made them more relatable and kind of disturbing. I did like that there were the occasional paranormal stories though. They just added a little bit of variety, and some unexpected twists to the tales throughout this collection. Although, they pretty much all dealt with murder, regardless of what kind of genre they sat within.

I loved that pretty much every story in this collection is filled with chaos, and some pretty serious horribleness being planned. In one way or another. I mean, it wouldn’t be a anthology of murder stories if they weren’t planned… that’d be manslaughter. Admittedly, there were one or two stories that didn’t fit the mould. But the majority were deliciously filled with horrible acts.

Honestly, I really enjoyed this anthology. Maybe not every story was my cup of tea, and it wasn’t my favourite anthology ever. But it was still enjoyable. And one I plan to keep on my shelves so that I can read it again in the future!

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Image source: Amazon

Chatter by Gary Phillips

Overview
Murder and Mayhem in Muskego: Jordan, Jon & Ruth, Phillips, Gary,  Richardson, Kat: Amazon.com.au: Books

Title: Chatter
Author: Gary Phillips
In: Murder and Mayhem in Muskego (Jon & Ruth Jordan)
Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one)
My Bookshelves: Crime
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Down and Out Books
Year: 2012

Thoughts

This short story was pure dialogue. Which makes sense, considering the fact that the title of it is literally Chatter. I mean, the whole thing read like chatter. And it was chaos, pure and simple. Considering it’s a short story in a collection about murder and mayhem, that was seriously apt.

This short story was rambling and chaotic, but really fun. Although, admittedly, it was so rambling that I’m not 100% sure of what was happening throughout. Still, that lack of understanding was kind of fun and is part of the reason I’d like to reread this story.

Even with my lack of understanding, I found this story to be wonderfully dark and twisty. Seriously enjoyable.

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Image source: Amazon